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At last, however, Odysseus said,
"Wife, we have not yet reached the end of our trials
[athloi]. I have an unknown amount of toil
[ponos] still to undergo. It is long and difficult,
but I must go through with it, for thus the shade
[psukhê] of Teiresias prophesied concerning me,
on the day when I went down into Hades to ask about my return
[nostos] and that of my companions. But now let us go
to bed, that we may lie down and enjoy the blessed boon of
sleep."
"You shall go to bed as soon as
you please," replied Penelope, "now that the gods have sent you home
to your own good house and to your country. But as heaven has put it
in your mind to speak of it, tell me about the task
[athlos] that lies before you. I shall have to hear
about it later, so it is better that I should be told at
once."
"My dear," answered Odysseus,
"why should you press me to tell you? Still, I will not conceal it
from you, though you will not like it. I do not like it myself, for
Teiresias bade me travel far and wide, carrying an oar, till I came
to a country where the people have never heard of the sea, and do not
even mix salt with their food. They know nothing about ships, nor
oars that are as the wings of a ship. He gave me this certain token
[sêma] which I will not hide from you. He said
that a wayfarer should meet me and ask me whether it was a winnowing
shovel that I had on my shoulder. On this, I was to fix my oar in the
ground and sacrifice a ram, a bull, and a boar to Poseidon; after
which I was to go home and offer hecatombs to all the gods in heaven,
one after the other. As for myself, he said that death should come to
me from the sea, and that my life should ebb away very gently when I
was full of years and peace of mind, and my people should be
prosperous [olbios]. All this, he said, should surely
come to pass."
And Penelope said, "If the gods
are going to grant you a happier time in your old age, you may hope
then to have some respite from misfortune."
Homer. The Odyssey. Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original. Samuel Butler. Based on public domain edition, revised by Timothy Power and Gregory Nagy. A. C. Fifield, London. 1900 (?).
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